Apple Says “No” to the FBI

The “no” was in response to the FBI asking Apple to open up its back end so that the San Bernadino shooters’ information could be analyzed. Apple’s refusal was seen as a bold move against the FBI. It isn’t every day that a company refuses the request of a government agency. However, Apple felt that it was a negative precedent to set and that the order has implications beyond this specific situation.

Apple felt that it was a dangerous message to send to its clients, that at any time, Apple could go in and reveal private information,

For that reason, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook responded with an emphatic “no” to the court ordered mandate that Apple must aid the FBI in hacking into the San Bernadino shooter’s phone.

Apple was concerned with the precedent that a move like this would send, and fear that in the future they will continuously be asked to do similar feats. Apple feels that by acquiescing to the order, there would be a serious threat to the privacy of their customers. If it could happen once, it could happen again, and Apple simply does not want to set that kind of precedent.

Cook made his announcement of the refusal within 24 hours of the ruling in which the U.S. Magistrate stipulated that Apple must provide assistance in unlocking the accounts of the shooters. Part of the assistance would come in the form of helping the FBI get bypass the passcode protector and the auto erase function.

According to Apple, that sort of technology doesn’t even exist, and to create it would be dangerous to Apple clients. The fear is that if Apple can do that kind of action to one person, they could do it to anybody.